Elastica (album)

Elastica is the debut studio album by English alternative rock band Elastica. It was released on 14 March 1995 through Deceptive Records. The album was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize.[1]

Elastica
Studio album by
Elastica
Released13 March 1995
Recorded1994; Konk Studios
(London, England)
Genre
Length38:08
Label
Producer
  • Marc Waterman
  • Elastica
Elastica chronology
Elastica
(1995)		 6 Track EP
(1999)
Singles from Elastica
  1. "Stutter"
    Released: 1 November 1993
  2. "Line Up"
    Released: 31 January 1994
  3. "Connection"
    Released: 10 October 1994
  4. "Waking Up"
    Released: 2 February 1995
  5. "Car Song"
    Released: 1995

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[3]
The Guardian[4]
NME9/10[5]
Pitchfork8.5/10[6]
Q[7]
Rolling Stone[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[9]
Spin9/10[10]
The Village VoiceA−[11]

The album was well-received critically. In their retrospective review, AllMusic praised the album, writing "what makes Elastica such an intoxicating record is not only the way the 16 songs speed by in 40 minutes, but that they're nearly all classics" and that "hardly any new wave band made records this consistently rocking and melodic".[2] BBC Music wrote "As albums that fall off a genre's radar go, Elastica's eponymous debut ranks high", calling it "a neglected gem" and the "blueprint for what Britpop should sound like".[1]

Commercial performance

Elastica hit number one on the UK Albums Chart,[12] becoming, at the time, the fastest-selling debut since Oasis' Definitely Maybe the previous year.[13][14] The record also did well in the US, climbing to a peak of number 66 on the Billboard 200 after 11 weeks on the chart.[15] Two months after its release, it had sold over 59,000 units in the US according to Nielsen Soundscan.[16] By the end of 1995 it had sold approximately 1 million copies worldwide according to Billboard.[17] Around half of these sales were in America where it was certified as gold December 1995.[18] By April 2000, sales in the UK were estimated by the band's Deceptive label at 270,000 copies.[19]

Legacy

Select ranked the album at number 9 in its list of the "50 albums of the year".[20] The album fared better in end-of-year lists in the US where it was ranked as the fourth best album of the year by the Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, Spin and The Village Voice.[21] In 2013, NME called it the 191st greatest album of all time.[22] The album is also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[23] In 2014, American LGBT magazine Metro Weekly ranked the album at number 38 in its list of the "50 Best Alternative Albums of the 90s".[24] In 2017, Pitchfork listed the album at number six in its list "The 50 Best Britpop Albums".[25]

Track listing
Original version
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Line Up"Frischmann/Elastica3:15
2."Annie"Matthews/Jane Oliver/Elastica1:15
3."Connection"Frischmann/Elastica2:22
4."Car Song"Frischmann/Elastica2:24
5."Smile"Frischmann/Matthews/Elastica1:40
6."Hold Me Now"Frischmann/Matthews/Elastica2:33
7."S.O.F.T."Frischmann/Elastica3:59
8."Indian Song"Frischmann/Elastica2:48
9."Blue"Matthews/Elastica2:23
10."All-Nighter"Frischmann/Elastica1:31
11."Waking Up"Frischmann/Elastica3:16
12."2:1"Matthews/Elastica2:31
13."Vaseline"Frischmann/Elastica1:20
14."Never Here"Frischmann/Elastica4:27
15."Stutter"Frischmann/Elastica2:23
US version
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Line Up"Frischmann/Elastica3:15
2."Annie"Matthews/Jane Oliver/Elastica1:15
3."Connection"Frischmann/Elastica2:22
4."Car Song"Frischmann/Elastica2:24
5."Smile"Frischmann/Matthews/Elastica1:40
6."Hold Me Now"Frischmann/Matthews/Elastica2:33
7."S.O.F.T."Frischmann/Elastica3:59
8."Indian Song"Frischmann/Elastica2:48
9."Blue"Matthews/Elastica2:23
10."All-Nighter"Frischmann/Elastica1:31
11."Waking Up"Frischmann/Elastica3:16
12."2:1"Matthews/Elastica2:31
13."See That Animal"Brett Anderson/Frischmann/Elastica2:23
14."Stutter"Frischmann/Elastica2:23
15."Never Here"Frischmann/Elastica4:27
16."Vaseline"Frischmann/Elastica1:20

Personnel

Elastica

Additional personnel

  • Dan Abnormal (Damon Albarn) – Additional keyboards on tracks 4, 8 & 11

Production

  • Marc Waterman – production, engineering, mixing
  • Phil Vinall – mixing
  • Alan Moulder – mixing
  • Paul Tipler – mixing
  • Bruce Lampcov – mixing
  • John Leckie – mixing
  • Mitti – mixing
  • Juergen Teller – album photography
  • Steve Lamacq – A&R
  • Mark Kates – A&R
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gollark: > Should someone jailed for 30 years also be allowed euthanasia as option?Yes, although ideally we should make jail saner.
gollark: Maybe higher crime rates AND death penalties are controlled by atmospheric bee levels.
gollark: Maybe higher crime rates CAUSES people to want death penalties.
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References
  1. Leaver, Anthony. "Elastica Elastica Review". BBC Music. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
  2. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Elastica – Elastica". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
  3. Eddy, Chuck (7 April 1995). "Elastica". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 20 January 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
  4. Sullivan, Caroline (17 March 1995). "Elastica: Elastica (Deceptive)". The Guardian.
  5. Dee, Johnny (11 March 1995). "Children of the Cornwell". NME. p. 50.
  6. Berman, Judy (24 September 2017). "Elastica: Elastica". Pitchfork. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  7. Maconie, Stuart (April 1995). "Brisk: never has such blatant thievery been such fun". Q. No. 103.
  8. Panahpour, Nilou (18 May 1995). "Elastica: Elastica". Rolling Stone. No. 708. pp. 88–90.
  9. Wolk, Douglas (2004). "Elastica". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 274. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  10. Aaron, Charles (May 1995). "Elastica: Elastica". Spin. Vol. 11 no. 2. p. 94. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  11. Christgau, Robert (11 April 1995). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  12. "Artist Chart History: Elastica". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
  13. Bloch, Sam (1 September 2003). "Elastica – Artist Profile". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved 11 May 2009.
  14. DeRemer, Leigh Ann, ed. (2006). "Contemporary Musicians". Elastica. Contemporary Musicians. Vol. 29. Gale Cengage, 2000. Elastica Become Pop Stars. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
  15. "Billboard 200". Billboard. 107 (23): 84. 10 June 1995. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  16. Borzillo, Carrie (20 May 1995). "Elastica's DGC Set Connects With Fans". Billboard. 107 (20): 42. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  17. "Brits Around The World". Billboard. 108 (7): 58. 17 February 1996. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  18. "American album certifications – Elastica – Elastica". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
  19. Sexton, Paul (1 April 2000). "Elastica bounces back with 2nd set". Billboard. 112 (14): 14. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  20. "50 Albums of the Year". Select. January 1996. pp. 78–79. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  21. "Elastica – best of all time lists". Acclaimed Music. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  22. "The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time: 200–101". NME. 25 October 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  23. Dimery, Robert, ed. (2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 0-7893-2074-6.
  24. Gerard, Chris (4 April 2014). "50 Best Alternative Albums of the '90s". Metro Weekly. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  25. "The 50 Best Britpop Albums". Pitchfork. 29 March 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
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